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Broken Link Checker

Enter any page URL and we'll fetch it, collect its links, and test every one against the live web β€” 404s, 410s and server errors surfaced with their real status codes. The dead links your visitors keep finding, found first. Checking pages all day? The same scan ships as a free Chrome extension that runs on whatever tab you're viewing.

βœ“ 100% free, no signup βœ“ Internal & external links βœ“ Real HTTP status codes βœ“ Also a Chrome extension
How to use it

Scan a page in under a minute

  1. Paste the page URL β€” start with the pages most likely to rot: resource lists, old cornerstone posts, and anything that links out heavily.
  2. Wait for the sweep. We fetch the page, pull its links, and request each one. Slow servers get a few seconds before they're marked; the whole scan stays under a minute.
  3. Fix what's red. Each broken link shows its status code. Re-point it to the best living destination β€” or, for internal links, fix the target page itself.
Broken link checker for Chrome

Check broken links in Chrome β€” on every page you browse

Pasting URLs works for a page or two. If you're working through a whole site β€” or you'd rather dead links show themselves while you browse β€” the PeakKR SEO Assistant is a free broken link checker Chrome extension that runs a deeper version of this scan on whatever tab you have open, no copy-paste:

  • Up to 200 links per page (this web tool caps at 30) β€” internal and external, checked with the extension's full cross-origin access, so fewer "can't verify" gaps.
  • Anchor text with every broken link, so you know exactly which words on the page to re-point β€” no hunting through the HTML.
  • On-page link highlighter β€” flip a toggle and internal, external and nofollow links are color-coded right where they sit on the page.
  • CSV export of every broken link β€” status, URL, anchor text β€” ready for the client report or the dev handoff.
  • One-click fix-it tasks β€” agencies running on PeakKR can assign the whole broken-link list to a teammate straight from the popup.

And because it's the full SEO assistant, the same popup covers meta tags, Core Web Vitals, schema inspection, and SERP tools β€” one extension instead of five.

Add to Chrome β€” it's free

This web toolChrome extension
PagesOne URL at a timeWhatever page you're viewing
Links per scanUp to 30Up to 200
Anchor textβ€”Shown for every broken link
On-page highlightingβ€”Internal / external / nofollow, color-coded in place
Exportβ€”CSV: status, URL, anchor text
Fix workflowCopy the list yourselfOne-click assigned task in PeakKR
PriceFreeFree
Why it matters

Every dead link is three losses at once

A visitor hits a wall and often leaves. Link equity β€” the ranking value flowing through the link β€” drains into a 404 instead of a page. And the page sends a quiet "not maintained" signal to a search engine deciding how much to trust it. None of these show up in analytics as "broken link problem"; they show up as slightly worse everything.

  • Old content rots fastest. The external sources you cited three years ago have restructured, expired, or been bought. Blog archives accumulate dead links silently.
  • Internal 404s are self-inflicted β€” usually a page renamed without a redirect. They're also the easiest to fix, because you control both ends.
  • Resource pages are your link magnets β€” and the first place other site owners will notice rot before deciding whether to link to you.
Reference

What the status codes are telling you

CodeMeaningWhat to do
404 Not FoundNothing at this address.Re-point the link to the moved/equivalent page; if it's your own URL, add a 301.
410 GoneDeliberately removed.Same fix as a 404 β€” the deliberateness only matters to the target site.
500 / 502 / 503The target server is failing.Recheck later β€” persistent 5xx on an external site usually ends in a dead domain. For your own site: an incident, today.
403 ForbiddenThe server refuses the request.Sometimes bot-blocking (the link may work for humans) β€” verify in a browser before "fixing."
Timeout / βœ•No answer at all.Often a dead domain. Check once by hand, then replace the link.
Agency habit worth stealing: broken-link checks belong on a schedule, not a memory. Quarterly for cornerstone content, monthly for client sites in a retainer β€” and every finding should become a task with an owner, or it'll be rediscovered broken next quarter.
FAQ

Broken link questions, answered

Do broken links hurt SEO?

Directly, a little; indirectly, a lot. A few 404s won't tank rankings, but every dead link wastes the link equity flowing through it, interrupts crawl paths, and tells both users and Google the page isn't maintained. On pages that exist to earn links β€” resources, guides β€” broken links quietly cap what the page can do.

What is the difference between a 404 and a 410?

Both are dead ends for the visitor. A 404 says "not found" (maybe temporarily, maybe a typo); a 410 says "gone on purpose" and gets pages dropped from the index faster. Either way, a link pointing at one needs fixing β€” re-point it or remove it.

What is a soft 404?

A page that says "sorry, nothing here" but returns a 200 OK status. Link checkers pass it, users hit a wall anyway, and Google eventually classifies it as a soft 404 in Search Console. If a scan says a suspicious URL is "fine," open it and look.

How should I fix a broken link?

By intent, not by deletion. Find what the link was promising the reader and point it at the best living equivalent β€” the moved page's new URL, an archived copy, or a better source. Deleting the link is the lazy fix that loses the context (and anchor text) it carried.

Why do external links break so often?

Because the web rots β€” the average external link has a measurable chance of dying every year as sites restructure, expire, and get acquired. Cornerstone content that cites sources should be rechecked quarterly; this tool makes a single page a 30-second job.

How do I check more than 30 links, or a whole site?

The free scan caps at 30 links per page to stay fast and abuse-proof. The PeakKR Chrome extension checks up to 200 links on any page you're viewing, the free AI website audit crawls your whole site, and PeakKR's recurring site audits re-check every internal link on a schedule and file broken ones as assigned fix-it tasks.

Is there a broken link checker extension for Chrome?

Yes β€” the PeakKR SEO Assistant is a free Chrome extension that checks up to 200 links on whatever page you're viewing, shows real status codes with the anchor text of each broken link, exports the list as CSV, and can turn it into an assigned fix-it task. Worth knowing: several long-running link-checker extensions stopped being maintained after Chrome's move to Manifest V3, so check the last-updated date on anything you install.

How do I find broken links in Chrome without an extension?

Paste the page URL into the checker at the top of this page β€” it fetches the page server-side and tests each link, so it works in any browser with nothing installed. The extension earns its place when you're checking many pages: it scans the tab you're already looking at, one click, no copy-paste.

Whole-site crawl instead of one page? Run the free AI website audit β€” it checks every internal link and writes up what it finds.

Do this on every page, without the copy-paste. The PeakKR SEO Assistant for Chrome runs these checks on whatever page you're viewing β€” plus broken links, Core Web Vitals, live tag inspection, and one-click tasks into your agency workspace.

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